pedantry
/ˈpɛd.ən.tɹi/noun
pedantry is spelled P-E-D-A-N-T-R-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pedantry means “An excessive attention to detail or rules” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pedantry is pedantries.
How many letters and syllables are in pedantry?
| Letters | 8: P-E-D-A-N-T-R-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 67,454th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pedantry?
Pedantry appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 67,454th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pedantry?
- US /ˈpɛd.ən.tɹi/
Pedantry has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-sa-pedantry.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pedantry
- pedantries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pedantry mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An excessive attention to detail or rules.
They had heard people call things pedantic, which they did not think were so ; for instance, a boy had once said that Harry himself was a pedant, for talking of the siege of Syracuse, and of the machines used there, because the boy knew not
- 2
An instance of such behaviour.
I don’t want to listen to your pedantries anymore.
- 3
An overly ambitious display of learning.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pedantry in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pédantisme , pédanterie |
| German | Pedanterie |
| Portuguese | pedantismo , pedantice |
| Spanish | pedantería |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pedantry come from?
From Italian pedanteria, equivalent to pedant + -ry. Compare also French pédanterie.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).